State Senator Frank LaRose (R-Copley Township) today highlighted new signs pointing to continued improvements in Ohio's business climate as a result of legislative efforts in recent years.

2015 marks the sixth consecutive year Ohio has set a new record for entities filing to do business in the state and a 40-year low in the number of Ohioans filing for unemployment benefits.

“Ohio's hard-working entrepreneurs have helped create these jobs along with our efforts to improve Ohio's business climate by eliminating superfluous red tape and job stifling bureaucracy." said LaRose. "We must continue to focus on effective, not burdensome, regulation while ensuring that entrepreneurs have the capacity to thrive in our state." LaRose said.

In 2015, Senator LaRose cosponsored legislation cutting the state's business filing fees by 21 percent, making Ohio's $99 filing fee the lowest fee in the Midwest, saving businesses an estimated $2 million annually. Following this effort, 9,746 new businesses registered with the Ohio Secretary of State's office in 2015, exceeding the previous year's record-setting number by 3,971 businesses.

In 2013, LaRose authored a regulatory reform measure, Senate Bill 3, to encourage economic growth and job creation by eliminating antiquated and obstructive rules and regulations. The bill added a number of improvements to the current rule-making process by increasing communications between state government and small businesses. These changes were made to ease the burden on Ohio’s entrepreneurs and small business people to ensure a more thoughtful approach to government regulation which considers a cost-benefit analysis before acting.

The rising number of new businesses has contributed to the 385,000 new private sector jobs created since January 2011. Fewer Ohioans filed for unemployment benefits in 2015 than in any year since 1973. Initial unemployment claims have dropped by 63 percent since the recession ended in 2009.

"These numbers and figures further demonstrate that solutions to Ohio’s challenges are found through better, smarter and smaller government," LaRose added.

At 4.5 percent, Ohio continues to outperform the national unemployment rate of 5.2 percent.

Further steps toward improving Ohio’s business climate include cutting income tax rates to the lowest level since 1982 and continuing the state’s 75 percent deduction on the first $250,000 of income for small businesses, which is supplemented by the creation of a 3 percent flat tax for small businesses earning more than $250,000.